


Oh Sweet Summer Child

by felix_8felicis



Series: Body Regression [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Body Regression, Children/Kids, Family Feels, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mentioned Day6 Ensemble, Mentioned GOT7 Ensemble, Mentioned ITZY Ensemble, Mentioned TWICE Ensemble, Physically speaking, Skz turns unto kids, Transformation, it's soft yall, like literally - Freeform, mention of anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25775191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felix_8felicis/pseuds/felix_8felicis
Summary: The tension settles in Chan’s shoulders. The realization hits him like a brick in the face, like the time the alarm rang too loud and made him fall of bed, face first on the cold merciless floor. All his members, seven of them, have regressed. All of them in the body of a 5 years old. Literally speaking. Transformed like that frog who became a prince, unless his members turned unto children. Right in the middle of promotion.This isgreat.Fantastic.He isscrewed.Damn it.Or Body regressing is a thing, stray kids physically regress back to kids, and Chan becomes responsible of seven kids. Sure he wanted to be a dad but not this early and likethis.
Relationships: Bang Chan & Everyone, No Romantic Relationship(s), Platonic Relationship(s)
Series: Body Regression [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2018780
Comments: 47
Kudos: 225





	Oh Sweet Summer Child

**Author's Note:**

> This is not like your typical Age Regressing au, they literally transform unto children, their body regress yo.

**BODY REGRESSING** : _Biological occurring in which an adult or teenage body physically regress to one of a young kid between the age of four and ten years old. The memory stays intact but the brain switches between different phases of ‘lucidity’ and ‘awareness’. The cause of the said phenomenon is mainly due to both hormonal and mental triggers such as accumulated stress and anxiety. Body regression is annual, but it can occur up to three or four times a year. At least once a year, the human body suddenly retrogress during a period of sleep called ‘temporary coma’ (4 to 6 hours). Body regressing last for a varying time of one to three days. No important side effects had ever been noted. However, scientific researches have shown multiple mental benefices. _

_Body Regressing or Age Regressing is not classified as a disease or an abnormality. Around 98.99998 percent of the worldwide population is subject to it._

_Since its occurrence is generally prompted during or after accumulated exhausting and stressful times, researchers are uncapable of telling with a certitude its due date. Though, it can be predicted thanks to multiple hormonal and biological factors._

_From starting during the teenage years to becoming more frequent in the twenties, the episodes will slow down until they completely stop at the thirties._ _\- read more._

Chan didn’t really know what had caused it this time. They weren’t overly stressed or busier than usual. The end of their promotion is slowly approaching and as far as the leader knows, everyone is remotely doing fine.

Or maybe Chan has too many theories in his head on what has caused _it_ to happen on this uncommon morning, that he can’t really tell which trigger is the culprit. The weather is getting colder, they had just released an album who had been especially hard to produce, record and choregraph, and they had been working without a proper break for more than two years now, the last one being a small two-day vacation given by the company.

Whatever has triggered it, it’s happening during a particular freezing dawn.

Chan wakes up to the cries of a baby.

Like. _Literally_. 

He turns around on his bed, hiding his face in his pillow. He is dreaming. That’s what’s happening. He will just fall back asleep and when he’ll wake up again, everything will be _perfectly_ _fine_. Yes. That’s what’s he is going to do. There’s not a baby in their dorm. He’s dreaming. He’s dreaming. He’s dreaming. _He’s-_

There’s a one second silence before it all explodes again. The cries loudly erupt in the dorm and at the same time, the alarm in Seungmin’s phone starts screaming in the room.

He’s not dreaming. 

“Chan… Chan PlEaSE” Minho grunts in the bed bellow his and it’s enough to make the leader finally move.

He grunts, pushes himself up, before he climbs down the ladder. He almost trips and hit his foot on a mysterious object, leaving his small toe aching. He stumbles for a while until he finally finds Seungmin’s phone and he doesn’t last a single more second to turn off the alarm. The cries, however, seems to never end.

“ _Please_. _Please_. Let it not be who I think it is. _Please_.” Chan mumbles under his breath, his feet sliding on the wooden floor as he follows after the ear-piercing sound.

He stops at the doorway of Jisung’s and Jeongin’s room and pushes the door open.

The youngest is sitting on his bed, sleepy eyes half open. He was looking straight ahead at the opposite bed before the older boy made his appearance.

Chan stares at him for a second before he turns his head to what Jeongin had been gazing at. Or rather _who_ he was watching.

On Jisung’s bed, is sitted a child no older than 5 years old. His eyes are bright red and his small fists are pressed against his closed eyelids. He has chubby cheeks stained by heavy droplet of tears. He is drowning in clothes that are now way too big for him, so much that the t-shirt alone entirely hides his frame.

Chan sighs loudly, stuck in the doorway. “Oh no” _Why did this need to happen today of all days?_

The baby, Jisung, abruptly stops crying. He looks at Chan with his big round eyes full of tears. His lips pout and then start shaking.

“N-no no that’s not what I meant Jis-” Chan doesn’t have the time to finish, Jisung, or rather baby Jisung, has started crying again, louder than before _. ‘Screaming’_ is actually the appropriate term.

“CHAN HYUNG. I’m BEGGING MAKE HIM STOP” Chan hears Changbin scream from the opposite side of the dorm as he quickly advances toward 5years old Jisung. Or whatever age he had regressed unto this time.

He cups his hands under the small child’s armpits, carefully lifting him up. “Here here. I’m sorry Sungie I’m so sorry. Hyung made you sad, didn’t he? I’m sorry that’s not what I meant.” He hops around the room, turning a bit in a circle, patting Jisung’s back. The younger is now sniffling and hiccupping, his chin on Chan’s right shoulder.

“I-I’m sorry I- I didn’t mean to regress. We have a-a schedule this mo-morning. I-I’m so-sorry-” Jisung manages to mumble with his small voice still shaky from the crying. Chan tightens his hold on him, still pacing around the room and coddling him. “It’s okey, don’t apologize, no one can help this kind of things. It must have been so scary and stressful to wake up in a kid’s body. I’m sorry I made it worse.”

The young child doesn’t reply. The sniffles continue but this time, his head is rested on Chan’s shoulder, lower lip captured between his teeth.

When the leader turns around again, Jeongin is still staring at him with heavy eyelids. He looks like a big doll, Chan thinks. “C’mon buddy, go wash up, we have a busy day ahead of us.” _Busier now that one of their members turned unto a baby_ , he wants to add, but he abstains from saying it out loud.

Jeongin blinks at him before he falls right back on his bed. The older scoffs but doesn’t say anything else before he leaves the room. He knows their youngest will get moving soon.

It’s Felix who he meets in the middle of the hallway. His eyes are wide when he prevents him from entering the kitchen. Chan frowns at him. “Please. _Please_. Don’t tell me that’s Jisung in your arms.” His voice is desperate and devoid of any hope. He knows the answer already. “Don’t say that in front of him, Sungie will get upset” Chan says when he walks past the young Australian.

Felix whines loudly, throwing himself on the floor. “UGHH NOO C’MON why is this happening so EARLY?”

Chan completely ignores him, holding Jisung with one arm and preparing cereals with the other. He doesn’t try to set him on a chair, he can’t have another fist of crying again so early.

Jeongin is sitting on the chair in front of the small table when Chan turns around to set the bowl down. “That means Lix hyung is going to regress soon as well right?” he asks, glancing at Felix who is still sprawled on the floor like a star fish. “Is that why he is throwing a tantrum in the middle of the dorm at 5:38am?” his voice is low and slow, emotionless from the still lingering sleep.

“I’m NOT throwing a tantrum. I’m just NOT mentally READY to turn unto a five-year-old!” Felix replies, sitting up.

Chan half heartedly glare at him. He is too tired to have this conversation right now. He sits Jisung on the chair facing Jeongin, and he internally sigh in relief when the young rapper doesn’t protest. His arm is numb but not that much; Jisung has always been a very light baby. He kneels besides the child, attempting a small smile when the younger turns to look at him. “Sungie, I’m gonna go wash up really quick and comeback alright? Innie and Felix- actually forget Felix- Innie is here to look out after you.” Felix yells in disapproval behind Chan but the latter ignores him again. “Eat your cereals slowly okey?” It’s only when Jisung nods that Chan stands up.  
  
“Hyung, is he lucid?” Jeongin asks, lowering his head to be eye level with 5 years old Jisung.

Chan shakes his head. “I’m not sure. He is still under shock; it was all really sudden. Just keep an eye on him.” He disappears around the corner.

Felix hasn’t moved from his place on the freshening cold floor when Changbin enters the hall. He stops mid-walk and frown his eyebrows at him. “Is it happening already? Has Felix started regressing?”

The said boy growls uncommittedly.

Jeongin shrugs without turning to face the two, bending forward to pour Jisung some Juice. He is quietly saying something to him, but it gets drowned by Seungmin’s sleepy voice. “What? So soon? Do we have to expect waking up to Felix bowling his eyes out tomorrow as well?”

“Stooop-” Felix gets cut off by an added weight on his back. It’s Minho, glad to find a reason to lie back down. Even if that is on the floor. “Stop speaking it unto existence” he pouts.

Chan, now dressed in his usual black clothes, appears again with a tired looking Hyunjin still in pajamas. The older removes his hand from around the dancer’s neck and slightly pushes his back toward the door. “C’mon, I’m sure the girls have some clean clothes. I wish we were a bit more organized.”

Hyunjin responds with a grunt, ignoring everyone around him. He closes the apartment door behind him and carefully climb the stairs to the floor above theirs. He crosses it with careful steps; Skz’s and Itzy’s managers lodges here. He takes the stairs again to the floor above. This time, it’s the right one.

He knocks three times on the door to the right.

“COMING!” someone screams from inside.

The door opens with a great force and Hyunjin is scared it gets pulled out of it stings.

Yeji seems surprised to see him, but her face relaxes quickly. She breathes out in relief, a hand on her chest. “You scared the shit out of me, I thought it was the manager and we were running late.”

Hyunjin doesn’t have the energy to do anything else other than scoff. “Do you-” he is stopped by a yawn that escapes his mouth. He puts his hand over his mouth and doesn’t even urge himself to speak.

“What is it Hwang? C’mon I don’t have all day.” She crosses her arms against her chest and feign annoyance but the smile on her lips betrays her. Hyunjin doesn’t even have the energy to complain or joke around.

“WHO IS IT?” It’s Ryujin this time, appearing around the corner. “Oh Hyunjin! You really managed to sneak past the managers to get to our floor? It must be urgent this early in the morning.”

Yeji, her shoulder against the door frame, snarls. “Urgent? Last time it was because Felix ran out of eggs.”

Hyunjin tiredly glares at her. “Brownies is an urgent matter.” He sighs. “Jisung regressed. We kind of don’t have any clean available kid’s clothes right now so…”

“So you’re here to borrow from us.” Yeji says with a raised eyebrow. “Good job genius, are you always this smart?” Hyunjin snaps, his eyelids heavy with sleep. She is about to say something back, but Lia speaks over her. “Can you two stops bickering like actual siblings for two seconds? It’s 5 in the morning.” A mug of coffee is carefully wrapped around her fingers and she looks as grumpy as he is himself in the morning.

Ryujin scoffs a laugh before she disappears in one of the rooms. They both follow her with their eyes. “Any schedule this morning?” Yeji asks to get the conversation started again.

“Variety show” Hyunjin answers with a sigh. “Jisung regressed sooner than expected so we’re a bit caught off guard. This means Felix is gonna regress soon as well-”

“FELIX WHAT?” Yuna’s voice resonates loudly in the apartment but she is nowhere to be seen. “WHY DID I HEAR FELIX AND REGRESS IN THE SAME SENTENCE?” 

Chaeryeong appears at the exact moment, shoving a black shopping back in Hyunjin’s hands. “This should fit” she says in a hushed voice. “It’s Yuna” she says to answer the dancer’s frowned eyebrows. “She always _always_ regresses with Felix. Just like you and Yeji. God knows why.”

Hyunjin has now a wide smile on his lips when he laughs. He exchanges a look with his so-called twin “I wonder if we’re gonna regress at the same time again”

“We did for the past four years we’ve known each other. You better warn me if you regress before I do.” She points her finger at him and Hyunjin simply grins before he goes down the stairs.

Their dorm is far quieter than when he left it. There’s only Chan and Jisung in the kitchen. The leader is watching the younger finish his bowl of cereal, and when he is done, Chan carefully whips his mouth.

“You’re back?” he asks when he notices Hyunjin standing by the door. He stands up and takes a step toward the dancer to grab the bag. Jisung’s eyes follow his every movement until Chan’s standing right by his side. He crouches in front of the child and reaches his hand out. When Chan speaks, it’s with a soft voice. “Shall we go get dressed?”

Jisung stares at him with his big round eyes. He nods, placing his small hand in Chan’s big one.

In the bag Chaeryeong handed them, is a white short sleeved shirt, navy blue plants, red socks, black shoes, a red warm looking coat, and a blue scarf. They really thought of everything, Chan thinks thankfully. Jisung looks like a doll out of its package when the older boy is finished dressing him up, right after a trip to the bathroom. They hold hands again and he takes him to the front door where he helps him put his shoes, _probably Ryujin’s shoes actually_ , on.

Chan looks up at him when he’s done, and from where the older is kneeling on the floor, he is eye level with the rapper. “Hey, can you tell me your name?”

Jisung blinks at him twice. “Han Jisung.” He says with a small voice.

“Good. And what’s my name?” Chan asks next. The child answer almost immediately. “Channi hyung.”

Jeongin appears then, sitting on the single stair. “What about mine?”

“Innie” a small smile appears on Han’s lips. The vocalist comically frowns. “Innie hyung” he corrects him, but Jisung doesn’t listen. He repeats with the same small voice. “Innie”

“Don’t try, it never works” Minho says when he appears with the rest of the members. “What’s my name?” he crouches down next to Chan and attempt a smile. It ends up looking scarier than anything else.  
  
“Lee know hyung” Jisung says confidently. “And how old are you?” the main dancer has a suspicious smile on his lips, Seungmin notices.

Jisung holds out five fingers. “This much” he says with innocent eyes.

There’s a silence. Minho glance at Chan. “I’m gonna tell him”

“ _Don’t you dare_.” The leader replies with an offended expression on his face. He lifts Jisung in his arms and without a second more wasted, almost runs out of the apartment.

He meets the manager as soon as he is out of the door. The man blinks at him tiredly. Chan blinks back, Jisung securely cuddled in his arms. The older man turns back around and climb back the stairs without saying anything, his face looking even more exhausted than it did when he first came.

The members behind the leader start loudly laughing at the weird exchange. Chan can’t hold back a smile, but he feels too bad for their manager to really laugh at him. It would be one hell of a day after all. Jisung pulls his head out of Chan’s neck, and blinks at him confusedly. When he sees Chan smiling, he offers a big grin as well.

“Why did Mr.Kim look that anno-” their second manager’s voice resonate in the stairs above their heads before it suddenly halts when he comes face to face with them. He blinks twice, and Jisung blinks back. “Ah.” Hyunjin giggles again, but Chan can’t really blame him. He puts Jisung down, with a little of protest from the younger’s side, and forces him to stand by his side. “Jisung, say hi.”

The five-year-old looks at the manager in the eyes before he looks down, fingers dancing together. “Hello. My name Is Han Jisung” he says in a small voice. The manager crouches down to be eye level with the kid. “Hi Jisung. It’s nice to meet you.”

Jisung nods quickly before he turns back to Chan, holding out his arms so he would pick him up. Chan’s arms aches under the unusual weight, but he picks him back up, the last thing he wants is to scare him or trigger his anxiety when he is still not lucid and so young. Baby Jisung didn’t meet this manager yet and is very precise on the people around him. Which is perfectly understandable for someone his age so far away from his parents.

There’s a baby seat when they climb in the first van, thanks to Mr. Kim who had ran away earlier. Jisung doesn’t complain when he is placed in it. He also doesn’t complain when it’s Changbin who sits beside him and not Chan. He doesn’t really talk at all, even after they reach the broadcast studio, and eventually, he and Chan have to separate. It seems to be problematic more to the leader than to the child.

“Chan, listen, I promise Jisung is going to be fine. Just go get your make up done.” Their second manager says, his hand holding a very calm Jisung.

Chan bits his lips, throwing glances around him. They are in the waiting room, everyone running around to get ready. His assigned hairdresser already waiting for him by a chair. “A-alright, alright.” He ruffles Jisung’s hair. “I’ll be right back buddy okey?” he waits for a nod before he disappears in the small crowd of staff and members.

Jisung tightens his hand on the manager’s hold, and the man looks down at him. “Are you hungry Jisungie? Let’s go get you something to eat.”

\---

It’s not Jisung who disappears. No, the kid is enjoying his ice-cream, a wide smile on his lips from where he is nicely sitting in the waiting room. When the boys enter the room, the filming finally over, the child seems more self-aware. He jumps toward them, excitement bubbling behind his eyes. “Channi hyung, Channi hyung! Manager-nim bought me an ice-cream. You’re jealous right? Right?”

Chan crouches in front of him, ruffling his hair. “So jealous” he fake pouts. “I want an ice-cream too!”

Changbin crosses his arms, pouting as well. “Why didn’t you bring us some?”

“Regressing privilege” he says before turning away from him, his tongue licking his ice cream.

Minho points a figure at him, walking behind him. “Yah! If you’re self-aware, you’re not allowed to use them anymore!”

They start bickering, but to Chan, it becomes a background noise. A tired yawn escapes his lips before he can stop it, and he walks to go change his clothes. He doesn’t remove his make-up; they have a meeting with some producers in the evening, then idol radio tonight. Exhaustion overwhelm him and he almost falls asleep; he didn’t get to go to bed early yesterday. He realizes that he had unconsciously fallen asleep when the manager calls for them.

“Is everyone ready? Let’s go grab lunch” he says cheerfully.

Chan snaps his eyes open and stands up to grab his bag. He stands behind the members as they are about to exit the waiting room. Out of instinct, he counts their head.

_1_

_2_

_3_

_4_

_5_

_6_

_Wait._

He frowns his eyebrows. _1 2 3 4 5 6-_ Something’s not right.

Panic starts bobbing in his chest. Why is there only six? His eyes frantically look around him, hands starting to shake.

“Hyung? What’s wrong?” Minho asks with a worried voice.

Chan ignores him, moving past the members to stand in front of them. They seem to have sensed that something is wrong because they suddenly stop chatting. The crowd of staffs going in and out of the room and the one in the hallway is closing up on him and with the scratching dread coating his lungs like poison, it’s suffocating.

His eyes fly around to search for Jisung, and he soon finds him, lifted up in the manager’s arms who is talking in the phone.

If it’s not Jisung then who?

He counts again, desperate to reach seven. One, Minho is standing in front of him. Two, Changbin is unplugging his phone in the right corner. Three, Hyunjin is looking at him with frowned eyebrows. Four, Jisung is in the manager’s arms. Five, Fel-

Chan’s breathe hitches in his throat. “F-Felix! Where’s Felix???” his voice seems to die down in the loud noise, so he repeats louder. “MANAGER HYUNG!” the man looks up with a startle, lowering down his phone. Everyone around the room, stylists, makeup artists and broadcast staff all stop talking, sending him a surprised look. “Felix” he says in an exhale of breath, voice trembling. “Where’s Felix?”

The man looks around him, his hold on Jisung tightening as if scared that he is going to disappear as well. The kid’s eyes are shaking in fear, the sudden tension and fright floating in the air scaring his child’s brain.

“I-I don’t know Chan, he must be here somewhere. Wasn’t he with you guys?”

There’s a sickening wave of guilt hitting him in the face. The one that fills his lungs with its salty water and makes him chock up. The one that pulls him under, like a hand wrapping its fingers around his throart to wrench him down in the depth of the ocean the second his head is above water to gasp for a millisecond of disturbed air. Chan is too breathless to form any proper sentence. “N-no I- I- fell asleep and-” he stops himself, realizing how ridiculous he had been. He’s ashamed. So ashamed. How dare he _sleep_ instead of looking out for the members?

“I didn’t see him after the filming was done.” Seungmin says in a small voice.

“I thought he was behind us when we entered the meeting room” IN is looking at him and Chan can’t tear his eyes away even if he wants too. “We got distracted with Jisung” Minho says lowly, as if scared to get grounded.

Minho knows, that Chan is too tired. That he keeps overworking himself day after day, keeps staying overnight repeatedly. He had noticed their leader falling asleep, he did, but maybe he had been too selfish. The worry he had toward Chan had been eased but he should have taken up the leader’s role and kept an eye on the younger members. Instead, he had played KartRider like a _fucking_ kid. With all the unusual crowd of staff around them, he had simply huffed a sigh of exasperation. How could he have not noticed that Felix wasn’t with them? _How-_

“He left his phone in his bag” Changbin says, lifting it up in the air. “He wouldn’t have gone to the bathroom without telling any of the managers”

Chan takes a deep breath in, trying to keep his calm. “We’re gonna look by per of two. Minho and Jeongin, Seungmin and Changbin, Hyunjin with me. Manager Lee please stay with Jisung here, Manager Kim and Jung will look around with us” Chan says with a steady quickened voice. “Everyone take your phone with you and look out for any phone call. Seventeen sunbae-nim are arriving soon for their shooting and it’s gonna get even more crowded so let’s find him quickly. Questions?”

Seungmin lifts his hand, as if he is in a class. “Is he- Is he regressing?”

Chan tries to speak above the loud thumbing of his heart in his ears. “Most probably. If that’s the case, he must have gotten himself lost looking for a place to sleep, probably still is asleep. If he is, do not wake him up, you know how it works; a regressing brain is dangerous to disturb.” They all nod, the urgency taking an inch up. He glances at Hyunjin. “Let’s go”

The two idols jog through the hallways. If Felix really is in the process of regressing, he wouldn’t have gone far. The problem is, the broadcast studio is huge and has many, _many_ rooms. Hyunjin takes the right side of the wall, Chan the left. They knock first, If someone answers, they go in and ask if they’ve seen Felix. If there’s no reply, they try to enter the room. When it isn’t locked, they look inside in every corner and small spaces a human body could hide in. It’s tiring and exhausting but the minutes stretch on and on and Felix is nowhere to be seen. Panic and fear are what drive them on; each one of them too scared to stop searching and admit that they hadn’t find their sunshine; _that he’s gone missing._

The stylists join the search party when Seventeen and their staff arrives. It’s too crowded to the point that it’s hard to walk in the small hallways.

Chan doesn’t know how much time has passed. He met the members a couple of times, but the grim look on their faces said enough. With Hyunjin, he is pretty sure they already came this way and already verified all the rooms. Yet, there’s nothing else to do than to double and triple check them again. The leader is about to open the last room down the hall when the younger dancer grabs his wrist. “Hyung-Hyung please breathe for a second. You’re shakin-”

“Breathe?” Chan’s voice is hollow, and his chest is aching from the lack of oxygen “My brother is _missing_ Hyunjin he’s _gone_ he-” he’s hissing, like a cat caught in a corner. “I will never be able to forgive myself if something happens to him.” Hyunjin’s eyes fills with tears but Chan doesn’t have the time to linger on it. He removes his hand from his hold and enters the room.

Maybe it’s to avoid Hyunjin, maybe it’s not, but Chan stays longer in the dark room, opening the drawers and searching every corner. He stares at the long wooden bench in the wall right beside the door. The space under it is too small and dusty for any grown up body to fits under, but in a small shove of despair, Chan kneels down and looks under it.

A silent gasp fills the room. There really is someone under it. It’s too dark to properly see, the light doesn’t work, and the figure is curled up on itself. The shock makes Chan falls back on the floor. Nonetheless, he recognizes Felix immediately. It has to be him. It _has_ to.

“Felix?” he whispers, moving forward to reach the boy.

“Hyung? Did you just say F-” Hyunjin gasps loudly, frozen in the doorframe. 

Chan cups Felix’s head with his right hand and with his left, pulls him toward him by his waist. It’s not 19, almost 20 years old Felix who gets carefully pulled from under the bench. It’s a Felix much younger, with a smaller body and younger face. Chan wouldn’t give him more than 14, maybe 15 years old. Felix upper body is carefully coddled against the older’s chest, his legs flat on the floor. He’s sleeping soundlessly.

“He’s-” Hyunjin doesn’t finish his sentence, Chan does it for him. “Yeah he’s still regressing. We absolutely _cannot_ wake him up until he reaches his regressing age, who’s around 5” He whispers lowly. “I’m scared to wake him up. You go and get the managers. Bring a blanket with you”

The older dancer nods and quickly disappears.

Chan sigh in relief, bringing Felix’s body closer. He rests his forehead against the younger’s hair and whispers lowly, closing his eyes. “I’m sorry Lixie. Hyung is _so sorry_ ” A tear falls down, disappearing in his blonde locks.

By the time Manager Kim and Jung arrives, followed by very fidgeting and fearful members, Felix has gotten smaller; around 12years old. Surprisingly, the boy is regressing far quicker than usual.

“How is he??” Manager Jung says, crouching beside Chan. “Asleep” the leader whispers with a weak voice. “He’ll be fine now. We got him” he says, this time to his members.

“Put him on my back” Manager Kim offers, about to kneel.

“No no it’s alright. I’ll do it.” The younger replies. Call it parent instinct, he always had been too protective of his members. It gets worse when they regress. The older men know that, so neither complain, instead, helping him to securely put Felix on his back. Hyunjin wraps the yellow blanket above the Australian’s sleeping back. 

Felix doesn’t stir the whole way to the car nor the ride to the dorm. He stays deeply asleep, his chest moving up and down slowly. The only movement he makes is when he finally gets put on his bed, when he adjusts himself on his side.

Minho covers him with his blanket and sighs in relief before he turns to Chan, standing by the bedroom’s door. “Do you really have to go?”

Chan nods defeated; his arms folded against his chest. “I’m sorry, the producers came all the way to the company, it’d be disrespectful to cancel.” He throws a glance above his shoulder to the living room. Jisung is sitting on the couch, watching a cartoon on the tv. “Changbin will come with me. Jisung…”

“Jisung will stay here.” Minho says. Chan turns to face him. “Yeah, he will.”

“It will be hard without him” the younger sits on the bed with a heave of breath. “You need him”

The leader runs a hand in his disheveled hair. “Yeah it will. The meeting will probably take longer because of that, but we’ll come back as soon as we can”

Minho nods again, but it’s more to himself than to the leader. Changbin and Chan ends up leaving quickly, however, not before Chan rumples multiple instructions; _Twice are upstairs if you need anything. Don’t let Jisung and Felix go in the kitchen unsupervised. If they get hungry, I’m sure you can find vegetables to make some soup. There’re toys in the closet down the hall and-_ Minho shoved him out the door at that moment, his ears already ringing. He could perfectly take care of two kids; they were no different than his three cats.

Probably _._

“Jisung?”

The kid lifts his head up. Minho crouches beside him, a what he hoped gentle smile on his lips. “Let’s go take a nap with Lixie”

Jisung pouts, a frown on his face. “I don’t want to take a nap. I’m not five.”

Hyunjin, sitting on the couch beside him, starts laughing while the older dancer raises an eyebrow. “Well, you’re in the body of one.” The rapper is about to say something back, but a yawn escapes his lips. “If you want to go with us to Idol radio, you better take that nap” he says with a stern tone and it’s enough for the child to give up. He lets himself be carried, his small head resting on Minho’s shoulder.

“Here” he says as he lowers him in his bed. “sleep until I wake you up. Don’t fool around”

Han frowns but doesn’t say anything.

“Hyung, I’m going to afternoon class. I’m gonna come back late, I have extra lessons and tutoring.” Jeongin peaks his head in the room.

“Is manager hyung taking you?” Minho calls behind him when he disappears in the hallway. The younger respond with an affirmative answer before the front door slams closed behind him.

Minho sighs. He throws a glance to Jisung who quickly closes his eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. He’ll fall asleep, eventually.

Heading to the hallway, the dorm is strangely calm. _Too_ calm. With frowned eyebrows, the older heads to the couch to check on Hyunjin. “Yah can you-” He doesn’t finish his sentence; the younger dancer is fast asleep. “Forget it.” Minho grumbles under his breathe. “I’ll go do the laundry myself”

In his shared room, Seungmin is also asleep, laid flat on his bed. The older pulls the covers above his body before he turns to their closet taking the whole left wall. At least, the dorm will be quiet.

His back cracks when he bends down to grab some clothes on the floor, but he ignores it. He folds them before he puts them away with some other folded ones. The kids clothe he’s looking for are in far back of the closet, under piles and piles of t-shirts, hoodies and pants. They really should take a day off to organize all this mess.

Minho then heads back to Jisung’s and Jeongin’s room before going to Felix’s and Changbin’s. He’s going to do the laundry, might as well wash and arrange all their kid’s attires. The last time any of them regressed goes back to so long ago that he can’t even properly recall, leaving all their regressed stuff either dirty, dusted or just too crumpled. For some, even lost. When you risk waking up in a 5 years old body any day, you can never be too prepared.

Half the wardrobe is put in the machine, the other half waiting on the side. Thankfully, there isn’t too much.

The kitchen’s wooden floor is unusually cold and Minho notices with a startle that they forgot the balcony’s door slightly open, letting the menacing freezing weather slip in. He doesn’t really enjoy cooking, but he knows, with a ping of pride sparkling in his chest, that he is incredibly good at it. However, he isn’t sure what is appropriate for two five years old to eat, so soup it is.

The clock shows 2pm. With everything that happened, they didn’t really find time to eat. Chicken gets added to the menu, he decides after remembering that they had one in the freezer. The members will probably get hungry before they’ll have to head to tonight’s radio show.

After letting the food quietly boil on the stove, Minho hurries back to the hallway; remove the clothes, put them to dry by the sun that’s filtering in the living room (Hyunjin is too deeply asleep; it’s not even night and it’s not like any of them ever takes naps. Weird.) and go back to put the remining clothes in the laundry. He then has to heads back to the kitchen to turn off the fire. By the time he is done, It’s already 3:47pm.

Minho lets himself fall on the chair, whipping the sweat off his forehead. Maybe he can finally res-

“ _Mom? MOMMY?_ ” a shaken small voice shouts, quickly followed by sobs.

Here goes his chance to rest; out the window.

“Coming baby Lix!”

\---

The meeting isn’t necessarily hard, but it’s exhausting.

If Jisung were to be there, everything would have ended in an hour no more. Yet, it’s already 5pm and they’re just about to close everything and leave.

Chan forces a smile as he stands up beside Changbin, bowing goodbye to the producers. When they are nowhere to be seen, they both falls back on their rolling chairs.

“Why was this so tense? The pressure was unbelievable.” Changbin whines, his head thrown to the back and his eyes closed.

Chan grabs his phone, quickly typing in Minho’s number. “I’m worried about the kids back home; I hope nothing bad happened.”

Changbin snickers unmoving. “What could possibly go wrong?” he sits up. “No one in this group ever dares to go against Minho. And Hyunjin and Seungmin are with him. They’ll be fine.”

The phone rings twice on speaker.

 _“Yeah?”_

“It’s me, how’s it going? Did Felix wake up?”

“ _Yeah he did like an hour ago_ ” There’s shuffles behind the phone “ _Jisung get away from Hyunjin, let him sleep”_

Changbin and Chan frown at each other. “Hyunjin is asleep? It’s not of his habits to nap” the rapper mumbles. The leader shrugs. “Did they eat anything?”

 _“Yup made them some soup with chicken. They didn’t eat much but I guess that’s normal for kids.”_ There’s a growl behind the phone followed by a child’s gasp. _“C’mon lix I washed that shirt this aftern- no no no don’t cry, it was ugly anyway let’s go change.”_

“We’re coming soon, just heading home.” Chan replies, standing up quickly and mimicking to Changbin to start packing his stuff. The phone gets put between his ear and his shoulder as he closes his laptop.

 _“Yeah well you better come home fast. I don’t think I can take care of more than two kids.”_ He then mutters with a smaller voice. _“Which one do you want? The blue one or the yellow? Yellow alright. Jisung come get changed! We need to head out soon!”_

“Yeah yeah we’re on our wa-” Chan abruptly stops walking, comically making Changbin slams against his back. “Wait what did you say? More than two kids?”

There’s a silence. _“Well about that. You should call Yeji and mentally prepare her.”_

The line goes silent. He hung up.

“What? What did he say?”

Chan sighs in exasperation. He runs his hands in his hair. He ignores Changbin and immediately dials Ryujin’s number. “Ryujin where are you right now?” he asks as soon as she answers.  
  
_“Filming for a reality show why?”_

“Is Yeji with you?” His heart starts pounding. It feels like he’s back in the long white crowded hallways, panic burning in his veins as he screams Felix’s name.

 _“Yeah she just fell asleep beside me.”_ There’s confusion in her voice _. “Why all these questions? Is something wrong?”_

Chan sighs in relief. “Well you might want to keep a close eye on her. Hyunjin regressed.”

“ _Wh_ at _??_ ” Changbin and Ryujin shouts at the same time and the leader winces at their loud voice. He can’t suppress a laugh. “Sorry Ryu, needs to go take care of my own kids. Take care.”

_“NO C’MON YUNA REGRESSED THIS MORNING-”_

Chan doesn’t let her finish her complaints. He laughs again before he hangs up on her, they live upstairs, he’ll see her tonight anyway _._

Thankfully, the dorm isn’t as messy and loud as the leader expected it to be. Changbin was right, Minho knows how to make himself listened too.

“ _HYUNG! HYUNG’S HERE!_ ”

Chan lifts his head up, a smile instinctively climbing his lips. It’s Felix, waving his hands above his head. Jisung comes running right after, contrary to the other, his face is more serious, and his voice is firm. “How was the meeting? Did it go well? How did you do with my part? Were you able to record? The producers weren’t too angry that I didn’t attend right?” 

Felix side glare at him, face frowned. They look funny, Chan’s notice, dressed like twins, one with a childlike scoff and the other pulling an expression too old for his young body.

“ _Why is he saying complicated words?_ ” Felix asks in English with a pout, clearly not understanding what’s going on. Chan giggles and lifts the younger up in one swift movement. “ _Don’t worry about it. How did you escape Minho?”_ he asks as he takes them further down the hall. Jisung however doesn’t budge, his arms folded as he stands in front of Changbin. “So?”

Changbin throws his shoes off. “So that’s none of your business young man. Why don’t you enjoy your short time as a kid?” he ruffles his hair as he walks past him, heading straight to the kitchen. “I wish, but you see, I’m not like Felix or Hyunjin, I’m lucid. Far too lucid to know that there’s no way that meeting went well without me.” He says, struggling to climb on the chair.

The older rapper lifts an eyebrow, pouring some soup in a bowl. “Aren’t you being too cocky? The meeting went perfectly fine.” He lies. The meeting did not go perfectly fine. Far from that. The huge part of the work they were supposed to present to the producers was made by Jisung.

“But-”

“Binnie, you’re here great.” Minho enters the kitchen almost running, a teary-eyed half naked 5years old Hyunjin in his arms. “Can you get him dressed? His clothes are on his bed. Seungmin spilled a juice box on the floor”

Hyunjin gets shoved in his arms and Minho disappears before he has the time to swallow down the piece of chicken in his throat. He coughs loudly. “Hyung! You know that Hyunjin only loves-” before he can finish, Hyunjin’s tears spill down on his cheeks and he loudly erupt in cries. Changbin closes his eyes. “-you.” 

Jisung smirks. “You know what? You’re right, I’m gonna just go and enjoy my child’s day.” He says before he jumps down his highchair and runs down the hallway. “YAH!” Changbin shouts after him, but the younger is already gone. He pats Hyunjin’s soft hair, heading them to the bedroom. “Why did you regress hmm? I’m sure it’s nice for you but it’s hard for hyung-dul” he says with a soft voice, putting Hyunjin on the soft mattress. He grabs the red pants exactly where Minho had told him they’d be. Hyunjin stops crying to listen, hiccupping quietly. “I-If it’s hard for h-hyung, then it’s f-fun” he giggles, his tears shinning in the corner of his eyes. “Yah!” Changbin snaps comically. Hyunjin laughs louder, and it makes the older grin.

“WHEN YOU’RE DONE, PLEASE GATHER UP IN THE LIVING ROOM.” Chan screams for everyone to hear.

Changbin finishes dressing him up quickly. He holds the younger’s hand and they head to the meeting room.

There, Chan is standing in front of the couch, Jisung and Felix nicely sitting on it. Hyunjin let go of Changbin’s hand and sit beside the two younger boys.

“Where’s the rest?” the main rapper stands beside the leader.

“Right here” Minho says, entering the living room, a child holding his hand. Changbin stares at young Seungmin with wide eyes as he runs to sit with the three other kids. “When-how-”

“With Hyunjin” Seungmin says excitedly. “We regressed together! Only took four hours.” He holds out four fingers.

Changbin and Minho force a smile while Chan laughs whole heartedly. “Lovely” Minho whispers.

“Now” Chan kneels in front of the kids. “Me, Minho and Changbin needs to go to a radio show. Manager Kim and Lee will stay with you-”

The four children gasp loudly. “WE WANT TO GO TOO” Jisung yells.

“YOU SAID WE COULD GO, THIS IS NOT FAIR” Hyunjin whines, tears already climbing in his eyes.

“I-I want to see YoungK hyung” Seungmin says with an upset scowl.

“Minho said we could go! He said if we finished all our bowls and stayed nice, then we could go! I didn’t even cry when I noticed that INie isn’t h-home. This is not fair.” Felix wraps his arms over his small chest, frowning with tears brimming in his eyes.

Chan throws an accusing glance at Minho above his shoulder. The latter lifts his hands in front of him. “I needed something to keep them calm.” he grins. “I usually use crockets with my cats but well…”

The leader force a smile before he turns back to the kids. “Okey, if you answer some questions honestly, I will judge if everyone can go or not, understood?” The kids nod eagerly. “We will go down the line and you will tell me your full name and age.” He stares at Felix. “You go first.” He says with an encouraging voice.

“ _My name is Lee Felix and I’m this much._ ” He holds out five fingers. “ _I’m a big boy, right? Right? I can go with you?_ ” Chan doesn’t answer his question but ruffles his hair. He scouts closer to Jisung. “Han Jisung, five.” He says with a mischievous grin.

“He’s lying.” It’s Changbin, standing behind him beside Minho, arms folded against his chest.

“I’m not.” Jisung frowns.

“Oh too bad, I was planning on telling you what happened in the meeting. You don’t have to know I guess.” 

Jisung looks up at him with wide scared eyes. He apparently can’t recognize Changbin’s strategy to make him denounce himself. He still has a child’s brain after all. “OKey OKEY it was a lie. I’m Han Jisung, stage name Han, 20 years old and fully aware that I will beat that smirk off your lips once I’m all grown up”

“I would like to see you try.”

Chan moves next to Hyunjin in the hope to stop their fight. “Hyunjin. I’m also five.”

“I’m fully conscious and will _not_ miss this opportunity to meet Youngk hyung in a hundred years.” Seungmin’s eyes a burning in determination, but Chan still finds him incredibly cute. The younger almost always wake up lucid during his regressions.

“Two sober out of four.” Chan smiles. “I think we can go.”

The arrangement for the car ride is complicated to say the least. They decide this way: 3Racha plus Felix in car and Minho, Hyunjin and Seungmin in the second one. Thankfully, the ride is quick and there’s no traffic; given the younger boys no time to get bored or fight amongst each other. When they are in front of the door, the older members place the younger one in a line, from oldest to youngest. “I want everyone to stay nice. You listen to me and the staff when they tell you something and no one argue alright? Ice cream for everyone if everything goes well.” Chan says with his leader, _father? They are kids after all_ , tone.

The kids nod eagerly, and they enter the building quickly, Manager Kim holding the door open for them and making sure everyone get in.

Youngjae is the first one to notice them. He blinks at them confusedly. “Channie, I didn’t know you would be the first one to have kids between all of us.”

Chan laughs shyly, helping Hyunjin remove his green scarf.

“I was surprised too Hyung. Couldn’t believe he didn’t tell us before.” Minho says, going on with the older’s joke. Changbin scoffs. “It’s actually a good idea that is. Pretending that all four are Hyung’s children. Easier to explain.”

Chan lets them laugh at him as he finishes arranging Felix’s hair. When he’s done, he stands back up. “Okey, let say hello, 1,2,3…”

“Step Out, hello we are Stray Kids”

The staff claps at them, and Chan is surprised that the 00line managed to say their greeting properly. Instinct he supposes. YoungK choose that moment to show up. He stops dead in his track, his iced americano in his right hand. “I was sure Stray Kids had 8members. Are we interviewing BoyStory instead?”

The radio show goes on like that, jokes right and left and a lot of good energy. Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin don’t argue when Chan decides that the four of them can’t participate on the radio. They don’t even look bothered to the slightest as they start playing _“The King Of Silence”_ with the managers. The Idol Radio show Pd’s insist on letting them participate in the second half of filming. “It’s never seen before. I love it. Let’s do it.” He had said and Chan isn’t really allowed to refuse.

The kids listen well to Chan, Changbin and Minho, and both djs are incredibly good and familiar to the 5years old. An hour pass by in a flash, and although Hyunjin and Seungmin looks upset to leave, Youngjae and YoungK promises them that they’ll see them in the company.

“I want to see Jinyoung Hyung too. Will I be able to see him in the company? What’s a company?” Hyunjin asks with wide eyes, looking between a laughing Youngjae and an upset looking Chan.

“I want to see Wonpil Hyung as well. I want to go to the company as well.” Seungmin is grabbing YoungK’s arm, staring at Chan like if he holds his world in the palm of his hand.  
  
Chan shakes his head. “That’s not a very nice thing to say, both of you.”

Hyunjin and Seungmin scowl. “Can we go see them _please_?” they say in unison.

YoungK is struggling to hide his laughter but Youngjae doesn’t even bother too. Chan crouches in front of them to be eye level. “Those two hyungs treated you well the whole afternoon. They played with you and even gave you _drinks_. It’s not nice to ask to see other memb- I mean their friends instead of them.”

Both kids look genuinely upset now, and it’s Youngk’s turn to scold Chan. “Don’t be harsh on them. They’re just kids” he ruffles their hair.

“We can’t win against the power of Bias Channi” Youngjae laughs breathless.

Chan however doesn’t budge. “Apologize to Hyung-dul.” He says with a calm voice.

Seungmin and Hyunjin turn around and bow down. “We’re sorry” Seungmin stands back up first. “I want to see Hyung-dul too. Thank you for being nice to us.” Hyunjin nods eagerly alongside him.

“I’m sure we can have dinner all together. We’ll bring Wonpil and Jinyoung with us” YoungK says as Seungmin and Hyunjin grab each of Chan’s hand to heads off.

The other members are already in the car, ready to leave. When Chan checks on the two cars to make sure no one got left behind, he notices that Felix and Jisung are already fast asleep. Minho shushes him, scared that he would wake them up, but both stay fast asleep. Hyunjin and Seungmin fall asleep the first 5 minutes of the ride.

Once the cars are parked in front of their dorm, Chan lifts a sleeping Felix in his arms. Minho do the same with Jisung and Changbin with Seungmin. Manager Lee follow them behind with Hyunjin.

Thankfully, the four children are put in bed without any of them waking up; Felix and Hyunjin takes Minho and Changbin’s bed, Chan decides that they are too young to sleep on a bunk bed.

“When is Jeongin coming home?” Changbin asks in a hushed voice when he closes the bedroom door behind him. Minho and Chan are in the living room, sprawled on top of each other on the couch. “Manager hyung says that he should be calling him so-” Chan pulls out his phone. “Ah, he’s calling.” He straighten himself.

“Hello?”

“ _Hi, is this Bang Chan-shii?_ ”

Chan frowns at Changbin who is sitting on the floor against the wall in front of him. “Yes who’s speaking? Isn’t this Yang Jeongin’s phone?” This gets Minho’s attention.

“ _Y-yeah it is. My name is Bang Yedam. I’m IN’s classmate_.”

“Ah Yedam-ah of course, is something’s wrong? Where’s IN?” Chan can feel his heart pound in his chest. He tries to keep his voice and breathing even. The incident with Felix this morning is still fresh in his mind, itching like a burning iron. 

“ _He’s beside me don’t worry. He fell asleep in class and the teacher said not to wake him up because he obviously looked exhausted._ ” Yedam’s voice is unsure and shaky. “ _We tried waking him up before tutoring started but he wouldn’t wake up. We let him be, but-_ ”

Chan is almost sure what the younger boy is going to say now, but he wants to hear him say it. “But what?” his voice comes out harsher than he expected it to be. Minho holds his hand and Chan focuses on it. “I mean, is he alright?”

“ _He’s-He’s regressing Hyung. When we noticed, he was already past 12 years old. He’s about 9 now_.” Chan runs his free hand in his hair. He can hear shatters and laughter behind the phone. There are multiple shouts of cute, quieted down by Yedam. “I’m calling our manager right now.” He throws a glance to Changbin who quickly pulls out his phone. “Can I ask you a favor Yedam? Please don’t leave him alone, stay by his side until our manager gets there.”

 _“Oh don’t worry”_ He can hear the smile in his voice. _“The whole class and teacher are still here. They all insisted on staying till the end. No one thought Jeongin Hyung could possibly get any cuter.”_

Chan thank him and before he hangs up, he can hear Yedam say to his classmates. _“He will kill all of you when he’ll see that you took pictures of him regressing” _

When the manager finally arrives, Jeongin is still asleep in his arms.

Chan thank him and takes IN’s in his own arms, the younger’s head on his shoulder. Surprisingly, or maybe not that much it’s been a long day, Minho and Changbin are already fast asleep on their beds although it’s only past 10.

The leader lowers Jeongin in his bed across from Jisung. He leaves a gentle kiss in his hair. “Sleep well” he whispers.

The silence of the night answers him back.

\---

“It’s not a dinosaur, it’s a cat. Look, there’s the tail and ears and-”

“No. It’s a dinosaur. Cats aren’t that big.”

“What would _you_ know about cats.”

“And what would _you_ know about dinosaurs.” 

Chan shuffles in his bed, eyelids heavy. There’s a part of his brain wondering why there are two kids’ voice whispering and arguing in his bedroom, but another strong part is convincing him that he doesn’t care. He squints his eyes closed and try to fall back asleep.

“You are mean. I don’t like you.”

There’s a silence and Chan sighs in relief, he can finally fall back asleep. However, a loud _thud_ resonates in the room and Chan wakes up in a startle the moment loud crying pierces his ears.

He almost trips when he climbs down the ladder, but he manages to stay on his feet. Besides the window, are two kids. One of them is sitting on the floor, heavy droplets of tears falling from his eyes. The other has his arms folded and looks like he wants to hide under the floor. When his eyes meet Chan’s surprised ones, tears climb in them and he runs past him and out of the room.  
  
“Wait-”

Chan renounces on chasing him for now and instead kneels in front of the child. “Are you hurt anywhere? Are you okey?” The kid stops crying, only his sniffles remaining. He stares at Chan. “Come here, come” the older lifts him up in his arms slowly as he stands back up. The kid, Changbin, Chan recognizes without an ounce of hesitation, is only wearing his shirt. It’s too big for him and is hiding his whole frame. Changbin is rubbing his eyes, hiccupping from time to time. “He-He pushed me. I- I did nothing wrong I promise.” He says with a small shaky speech. Chan rubs his back but doesn’t say anything. His eyes scan the hallway.

“Minho? Minho darling come out I’m not angry”

No one responds to him. He walks unto the living room, but it is desert, even behind the couch. He turns to the kitchen on his right, and immediately spots Minho. He is hiding under the table, his knees brought to his chest and his back against the wall. Chan pretends not to have seen him and gives him another chance to show up on his own. “Minho? C’mon baby, Hyung isn’t upset.”

Nothing.

Chan sighs again, ( _how many times did he sigh the past day alone?)_ and lowers Changbin on the floor. “Can you go see where Hyunjin and Seungmin are? They weren’t in their bed. Make sure you don’t wake up INie alright?” He waits until the younger nods and has disappeared in a bedroom before he turns around toward the table. 

He crawls toward it and come face to face with Minho who lifts his face from where it was dug in his knees. His eyes are full of tears. Chan sits in front of him, his posture open. “Would you like to tell me what happened?” his voice is calm and gentle. At least, he hopes it is.

“I didn’t want to push him, he came too close to my side of the window and I couldn’t even see the clouds. I-I just wanted him to move. And he- he said that he didn’t l-like me anymore.” He has a high-pitched voice, and it’s almost like he’s shouting.

“Even if you didn’t mean to push him, you still hurt him Min” Chan’s tone is calm but firm. “Changbin could’ve seriously gotten injured. You need to apologize.”

Minho stares at the ground in front of him. “I’m sorry” he mumble.

Chan shakes his head. “Not to me, to Changbin.”

The child seems like he has something to say, so Chan stay quiet. “Are you really not upset at me? You’re not going to yell and be angry right?”

“No baby no of course not. We can put this behind us once you’ve said sorry to Binnie” He opens his arms. “Come, don’t be scared, I’ll be by your side the whole time.”

Minho hesitates for a second before he crawls out of the table, throwing himself in Chan’s arms. “Let’s go” he says in the young dancer’s ear. The latter step back and nods.

Changbin is in his room with Jisung, Felix, Hyunjin and Seungmin. They are sitting on the floor in a circle and they all look at them when they come in. “Binnie, can you come in for a second?” It’s a question but Chan’s tone doesn’t really leave him a choice. When he is in front of them, the leader crouches down. “Minho has something to say to you.”

Minho squeezes Chan’s hand. “I’m sorry for pushing you. I didn’t like it when you came too close to my side of the window”

Chan turns his attention to Changbin, showing him that he is expectedly waiting for an answer. “I’m sorry for that. And I’m sorry for saying that I didn’t like you and that you are mean. I lied.” He says back, staring down at his feet.

“Great. Now why don’t we all-”

Cries resonate in the dorm yet again and Chan quickly snap around. When all of this is done, he’ll need an aspirin for his head. He almost run to the bedroom on the other side of the living room.

The six kids follow behind him as he runs ahead. “That’s Innie for sure.” Seungmin says.

“You woke Channie hyung and now Innie is awake because of you.” Jisung says. Felix whose holding his hand eagerly nods. “We told you not to go in his room”

“We could see the clouds better from there” Changbin defends himself and Minho “Besides, you twins don’t get involved we already got scolded” They stop in front of Jisung’s and Jeongin’s bedroom and Hyunjin who’s standing on the front-line peek inside. Chan is holding Jeongin in his arms, rocking him to ease his cries. It seems to be working. “Jeongin is regressed even younger than us. If 00liners are five, then he must be four, Changbin six and Minho seven” Seungmin says, staring at Jeongin whose thumb is in his mouth, head on Chan’s shoulder. “What are you say-” Minho stops short when Chan turns around to face them. He looks even more tired than when he first woke up. However, he still smiles at them.

“Let’s go talk in the living room alright?”

Chan make all of them sit on the couch; except for Jeongin who stays in his arms. He looks at all of them, in the silence of the early morning. They are all avoiding his eyes, their body language telling him that they are uncomfortable and feeling guilty. It’s like they are in the principal office, waiting to get grounded because they were too loud in class. The tension settles in Chan’s shoulders. The realization hits him like a brick in the face, like the time the alarm rang too loud and made him fall of bed, face first on the cold merciless floor. All his members, seven of them, have regressed. All turned unto kids. Literally speaking. Right in the middle of promotion.

This is _great_. _Fantastic_.

He is _screwed_.

_Damn it._

“WE TOLD THEM”

Chan snaps his head up, surprised. Jisung is frowning. “We told Minho hyung and Changbin hyung not to go in your room and to let you sleep. I don’t want to get scolded because of them”

Chan scoffs, running a hand in his hair. Right, it’s just his members. Younger than normal but still, his lovely younger brothers. It’ll be fine, he can take care of them without bothering the managers. He can do it.

“Okey well, it doesn’t matter now.” He kneels in front of them, putting Jeongin to stand on his feet. “Here’s the plan. We can order pancakes for breakfast. I will turn on the TV for some cartoons, and I will call you guys one by one to go in the bathroom and change. When everyone is ready and have eaten, we’ll see from there.” He lets his eyes fly on them. “Question?”

“ _Can we watch Disney?_ ” Felix asks.

“Can I have choco on my pancakes?” Jeongin says blinking at him expectedly.

Chan is panting by the time everyone is sitting on the kitchen’s table eating. He looks at them proudly. Sure, he prefers a Minho who can brush his teeth alone and a Jeongin who doesn’t need his help going to the bathroom, but there’s something heartwarming in his members being not taller than his knees. He feels needed and important in the way they look at him like he is their whole world. It makes him want to never get his eyes off them.

The front door beeps open, making Chan turn his attention to it. “Good morning Chan-ah” It’s manager Kim. “Did you all wake-” he stops short in his walk when he enters the kitchen, his eyes stopping on the seven kids in the kitchen.

There’s a silence.

He silently turns back around, leaving through the door without saying anything else.

Chan giggles under his breathe. “What’s wrong with Manager Kim?” Jisung asks, food stored in his cheeks making them look like two helium balloons. Chan whips some syrup in the corner of his lips. “Manager Kim has a long day ahead of him today. Be nice to him alright?”

Jisung nods although he doesn’t look like he understood much.

“Hyung eat?”

Chan ruffles Jeongin’s hair. “I’m full just looking at you guys.”

“Okey that’s how we’re going to do” Manager Kim says when he enters back the dorm. He has his phone in his hand. “I cancelled your schedule for this morning and afternoon. Sadly, I’m afraid we can’t push back the fanmeeting. It’s the last one”

“ _Fan? Are we buying a fan?_ ” Felix asks, picking up the English word.

They do not buy fans, much to Felix’s displease, but all seven regressed members ends up having more fun than any of them, Chan and division one included, expected too. Even Jisung wants to attend, as long as he gets to sit beside Chan, he precise.

The leader sits in the end of the table, his kids to eye view. Stays are ecstatic to see the members as kids, even if more than half of them can’t hold a pen properly, scribbling on the albums more than anything else. _Did Hyunjin draw a heart or a circle? Is that an arrow Seungmin drew? Or maybe an old man?_ _What is that in Jeongin’s mouth-_ “INIE PUT THAT PEN DOWN- No no no baby don’t cry I’m sorry for yelling I was just surprised it’s dangerous I’m sor- Hyunjin please sweetheart don’t put that album in your mouth. I’m so sorry, we’ll give you another signed one”

Well it was fun for the kids, but less for Chan and the staff members. 

The youngsters received more toys and plushies than their already full dorm can hold, and although they excitedly jumped every time they received one and held it close to their chests, they don’t have to know that they won’t be able to keep any of it. All gifts are given back to the fans; that’s the rule.

Manager Jung pays for dinner in a nearby sushi restaurant, and when they are all finally back in their dorm, all the kids from Minho to Jeongin are yawning.

“Hyung can we have a sleepover?”

Chan stares at Hyunjin who is looking up at him with stars in the eyes. The older frowns at him as he pulls the younger’s shirt out of his head, replacing it with his pink pajamas. If Chan remembers correctly, it used to belong to Sana. He doesn’t really recall how that happened, but trainee days were tough, and they all did their best to take care of each other when they regressed; especially the foreign members because they couldn’t just be scent back to their families for the time being. Babysitting became something all idols and trainees need to master.

Chan shakes the memory out of his head.

“Hyunjini, we _live_ together. We can’t have a-”

“SLEEPOVER SLEEPOVER SLEEPOVER” Jeongin screams excitedly in his purple onesie, his arms above his head as he jumps around with a big grin on his face.

Chan sighs. “Alright alright, that’s how we’re gonna do” He looks at Minho and Changbin who just managed to change unto their pajamas, thankfully alone because Chan already has his hands full with the younger ones. “Both of you, do you think you can go drag the mattress to the living room? DON’T RUN YOU’RE GONNA FALL” Chan screams after them when they both sprint to the closest bedroom. “Hyunjin, Seungmin and Innie will bring the blankets and pillows.” The three yelps in joy, following behind the two oldest. “And you two, you need to brush your teeth first. Then, the three of us can choose which plushie you want”

Jisung and Felix don’t argue. They turn their backs to the TV where a random cartoon is playing and take each of Chan’s hand.

“Can you remember which toothbrush is yours?” Chan asks when they reach the bathroom.

“The red one!” Jisung says, pointing at the right corner, waiting for him in a blue cup.

Felix takes longer to think. He glares at the eight toothbrushes like if they ate the last candy. “ _The yellow? The one with a sunshine_ ”

“ _Good job!_ Now stand up on these two chairs, but don’t move you might fall” He says while helping them up. The sink happens to be too high for all of them, Hyunjin and Minho barely managing to reach the running water when they stand on their toes, so chairs it is. Chan holds them by the back of their shirt as Jisung puts some toothpaste on his and Felix’s toothbrush.

“Do you want more?” Jisung says, tongue between his teeth as he concentrates on not spilling the toothpaste everywhere.

_“Yes please, there’s an empty spot here”_

“Here you go. We start right and then left okey?”

Felix nods. They count down to three and then start brushing in synchronization, like ones reflect in the mirror. Chan finds it fascinating how they can communicate in two different language; Felix in English and Jisung in Korean, both understanding each other perfectly.

“Done?” Chan asks when they are both finished washing their mouth. “Now let’s head to the bedrooms and choose some plushies. Everyone is allowed to have only one.” He says as he helps them descend from the chairs.

Changbin and Minho managed to do a pretty good job, although they obviously need help for heavier mattress. There are too many blankets, but Chan doesn’t mention it because Hyunjin, Seungmin and IN look like they are having fun hiding under them and using them like caps and dresses. Jisung and Felix do an amazing job bringing everyone their favorite plushie, thankfully their memories didn’t betray them on that part.

“OKEY I’m counting down to three and before I reach zero, I want everyone in their place under the blanket with their plushie in their arms and pillow under their heads, I’m turning off the lights.” Chan says, standing by the light switch.

_“THREE”_

Minho jumps in the first left mattress, Jisung laying down next to him then Felix, Seungmin, IN, Hyunjin and Changbin.

_“TWO”_

“WAIT I LOST GYU” Changbin screams dramatically, jumping off the bed. He finds it squeezed between Jisung’s right leg and the cold merciless floor.

_“ONE”_

“I don’t have a blanket anymore, Jisung stole all of it!” Minho yelps, sitting up with a frown on his face. “NOT TRUE, It’s Hyunjin!”

“I’m not even using the same blanket!” Hyunjin gasps back.

_“ONE AND A HALF.”_

“Forget it, here’s another one.”

“ZERO” Chan says turning off the light, drowning the living room in darkness. The bathroom’s light stays on, safety measures.

“There’s a leg on my tummy” IN says in a whisper.

“Shhht.”

It’s Seungmin, Chan recognizes as he heads toward them. “Whoever has their leg on INnie, get it off now” he says

“Sorry” Hyunjin whispers back.

“Alright.” Chan sits beside Minho. “Goodnight everyone.”

Minho shuffles under his cover, his cat plushy smashed against his chest. His eyes are piercing even in the dark. “Can we have a bedtime story?”

“Promise that you’ll sleep after that?” Everyone whispers their agreement so Chan nods, folding his legs.

“ _Once upon a time, in a far away land, lived a boy who_ -”

“How old was he?”

“JISUNG!”

“Changbin, don’t yell at your brother. He was a little older than Minho” Chan says before continuing. _“The boy dreamed of making people happy. He wanted to be able to sing and spread smiles and joy around him.”_

 _“One day, when he was gathering beautiful colorful flowers for his mom, an old man came up to him.”_ He lowers his voice and make it rough to mimic an old man’s. _“If you want to achieve your dreams sweet summer child.”_ He sees in the dark Jisung and Felix curl up against each other. _“You must travel to the other side of the ocean. There, you’ll find what you’re looking for.”_

“D-Did he listen to the old man? He can’t listen to him he’s bad” Seungmin whispers in a frightened voice.

“He did” Chan responds with his normal voice, nodding his head dramatically. _“The boy followed the mysterious stranger’s instructions and traveled to a new land, on the other side of the ocean, just like he was told too.”_

 _“Everything was different there. The sun was colder than the one in his own land, people spoke a different language, and he didn’t have his family by his side anymore.”_ Chan switch his tone, chasing the sadness to replace it with building hope. _“But just like the old man had promised, the summer child found what he was looking for.”_

He lets the silence hang for a couple of seconds. He lifts his hands in front of him in the air, like showing something that only he could see _. “In that foreign land, stood a huge castle. Inside, held everything he needed to reach his dreams. All he had to do, they said, is to work hard. The rest will follow.”_

_“So the summer child did everything they asked. He worked hard and trained days after days, week after weeks, months after months. He made friends who became like family to him and he found in them a second home. Different from the one back home, but the cold sun slowly became warmer above his head.”_

His arms fall on his lap, like faded flowers in a sudden snowstorm.

_“But it didn’t last. His friends started leaving one by one, sometimes replaced by faceless strangers, and time stretched on and on **. Maybe I can’t achieve my dream after all? Maybe I shouldn’t have left my land? Maybe I should just leave?** ”_

_“The summer child found himself alone in the big castle. The hallways once filmed with the laughter of his friends became cold and silent. The delicious food he once used to enjoy with them became bland in his mouth. His voice who used to sing with so much happiness and hope became desperate and held so much longing. The castle was still a castle, but it was now deserted. There were still people around him, but inside-”_ Chan brings his right hand to his chest _. “-it felt like I was standing alone in miles and miles of desolated land.”_

A tear runs down Jisung’s cheek, getting lost in the obscurity of the night.

 _“Then, someone entered the castle. More than entered, he smashed down the door open, eyes burning in a passion the summer boy had lost in what feels like ages ago.”_ Chan’s voice picks up in energy, a smile slowly climbing and reaching his eyes _. “Another one came after him, and another and another, all so talented and yearning to learn and grow.”_

 _“They made the summer boy happy. They made him want to try again and filled his eyes with a newfound hope. He wanted to give back. He wanted to give back to them for saving him.”_

_“And finally, after so many years, just like the old man had promised, the summer child, now a young man, achieved his dreams. He could finally sing and make people around him happy, all thanks to his seven brothers walking by side.”_ He lowers his voice until it’s barely above a whisper. _“The End.”_ He murmurs. All their eyes are closed, Chan notices with a sigh of relief. He engulfs himself under his own covers, covering a seemingly asleep Minho with him.

“Good night”

\---

It’s the filtering sunlight through the balcony above Minho’s head that wakes him up. He blinks repeatedly, rubbing his eyes and yawning as he does so. His muscles are aching when he pulls at them, but it’s in a good way; like when you sleep too much and you’re pleasantly tired when you wake up.

He sits up and stares down at his long legs. _Oh thank god_ he’s back to normal. He throws a glance to his side, and although they are all practically sleeping on top of each other, Minho is relieved to see that everyone is back to their adult body. 

He turns to his other side, and where should have been a sleeping Chan, is an empty looking mattress.

Minho frowns, it’s not of Chan’s habit to wake up before them.

Suddenly, something moves under the covers, making the dancer flinch back. He lifts it after a moment of hesitation and under it, is a sleeping child with naturally curly black hair.

Minho scoffs. How tables have turned.

He sighs and runs a hand in Chan’s baby hair. “If the summer child makes people happy, then, who makes _him_ happy? Who makes _you_ happy hyung?”

There’s a silence.

  
  
“We will look out after you too Hyung, just like you do with us. I hope that we can be brothers you can be proud of.”

Minho sighs again and stand up, trying not to step on Jisung’s foot. “I think Manager Kim will need some coffee.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well so that was that. I don't know if you guys will like it or not but I wanted to write single dad chan so I stopped all my other aus to write this one lmao
> 
> Might make this unto a serie but well we'll see 
> 
> Also!! Besides Age-Regression aus, I also got inspired of "Is time here gold or a beast?" by s-kiz (pigalle). It's really a good au I recommend!!
> 
> Thank you for reading as always and comments are much appreciated


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